Covering Pillows For A New Look

There is so much you can do with fabric. The selections in the fabric store are diverse in terms of design and texture. The local fabric/craft store here (Joann's) drops a coupon for 50% off on one cut of fabric almost every week. This allows me to save so much money and give one area of my house a completely different look.

I have four chairs on my porch. The pillows that are needed for this set are round. It's almost as though round seat pillows don't exist and I haven't been able to find them in years. There was only one solution-make my own. It's a challenge in some repects, but with patience and some sewing skills it can be done.

First I drew out a circle onto a piece of paper. The circle had to fit correctly onto the chair and it had to be 1/2 an inch larger for a seam. I decided that the pillows should be open on the bottom so I could slip out the foam and wash the covers easily. This required cutting the bottom template even larger. I purchased four, 3" thick foam squares, applied my template and cut out my circles.

Then cut four perfect fabric circles-18" plus 1/2 have an inch for a seam.

-cut four three inch bands and added a 1/2 inch on either side (total=4")

-cut 8 half circles for the bottom, adding 1/2 inch for a seam

-constructed and sewed my pillows together without sewing together the half moons on the bottom so I could easily remove the covers to wash.

I added the little back pillow to make the chair more comfortable and give it some more character. Since these pillows will get lots of use, I re-sewed all seems for extra security.Above is a photo of all the bands being cut out.

Above are two completed chairs.
Here is the set all finished. I have spray painted all the furniture and recovered all the pillows, although these I had to make from scratch. The other set of wicker on this porch also had the pillows recovered and spray painted. Everything has been finished and the porch has a new look. The fabric I used for these four chairs cost me under $30.00 with the coupon. Great price for a "new" look.

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